Emily dumps a month's worth of rain on Southwest Florida

Tropical Storm Emily made landfall in the Anna Maria Island area and is making its way across the Sunshine State.
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Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.(Photo: Andrew West/news-press.com)Buy Photo

Tropical Storm Emily may have been a snoozer for most of the state, but she dumped nearly a month's worth of rain on Southwest Florida.

Although the eye of the storm made landfall at Anna Maria in the Tampa Bay area, Lee and Collier counties, on average, saw about 7.2 inches of rain between Sunday and early Tuesday morning. The month of August typically sees just over 7.1 inches of rain, according to South Florida Water Management District records.

"Here we are on the second day of the month and we’ve already exceeded our monthly rainfall totals," said district spokesman Randy Smith.

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Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rain associated with Tropical Storm Emily rolled through Southwest Florida early Monday morning causing localized flooding in some areas. Part of roof of the Outrigger Resort on Fort Myers Beach blew off as well. No injuries reported and no damage to rooms. Crowther Roofing was on scene almost immediately.
Andrew West/news-press.com

Heavy rains from Emily are the latest chapter in a nearly two-year-long weather saga that started with a drought in the fall of 2015, followed by record El Nino rains in the dry season of 2016 and drought-like conditions earlier this year.

June was a heavy rain month, with nearly 20 inches, or 202 percent above average, falling across Lee and Collier counties. July came up nearly average, with 9.4 inches of rain falling, on average, across Southwest Florida. The average rainfall for July here is 10.2 inches.

The lake is the liquid heart of the Everglades, and from it comes water that feeds massive agriculture fields, millions of drinking water taps and what's left of the historic Everglades.

"The lake has risen a little bit but it's still below 13 feet, so that's not a drastic rise," said John Campbell, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "We've certainly seen tropical storms have a greater impact on the lake."

Heavy rains from Emily fell mostly south of the lake. Rural areas in eastern Collier, however, were largely already flooded from the June rains.

Those lands — called water conservation areas — are full of water and can not take any water from Lake Okeechobee.

That means that if a tropical storm sat over the lake, the only way to remove significant water from Okeechobee is to send it toward Fort Myers and St. Lucie to the east.

Smith said the district's water management system is in good shape and prepared for the rest of the rainy season, sans an intense tropical storm or major hurricane.

"The flood control system from all of our inspections performed very well," Smith said. "You’re going to get some street flooding and other minor flooding simply because of that large amount of rainfall in a short amount of time."

The wind picks up in Manatee County. Tropical Storm Emily is expected to make landfall sometime this Monday afternoon, July 31, 2017, in Manatee County, according to a National Weather Service forecaster.